Modular, unitary sectional, portable fence

ABSTRACT

A modular fence unit which is self contained and, together with a brace unit and a simple pin or stake, will make a temporary or permanent pen or corral, which can be constructed of any configuration with any portion being usable as a gate or opening. The present device is preferably of tubular construction for lightness in weight and has one or more vertical braces within the length of each modular unit, which, together with horizontal members form the fence. Provision is made for connecting the modular units by looped elements, one of which is hingeable, and a brace is provided which may be staked in place to provide lateral bracing. Provision is made to stake each post in place with a pin, which pin may be driven by an impact bar adapted to be used within the post and driven into the ground. The fence or corral may be readily disassembled and reassembled without damage to the parts.

Key

m1 3,770,246 4511 Nov. 6, 1973 MODULAR, UNITARY SECTIONAL,

PORTABLE FENCE Inventor: Lawrence M. Key, PO. Box 305,

Wichita Falls, Tex. 76307 [22] Filed: -.Dec. 30, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 214,025

[52] US. Cl. 256/25, 256/26 [51] Int. Cl E04h 17/16, E04h 17/18 [58] Field of Search 256/23, 24, 25, 26 C, 256/31 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 459,287 9/1891 Harris 256/31 1,114,479 10/1914 lven 256/31 457,6.47 8/1891 Kesling 256/24 916,228 3/1909 Trebilcock. 256/24 3,092,407 6/1963 1 Blonder 287/54 B 1,656,127 l/l928 Sargent 256/25 3,499,631 1/1970 Heldenbrand 256/25 2,517,386 8/1950 Cooper 256/25 2,581,318 l/l952 Bartlett 256/25 1,284,569 11/1918 Bikowski 256/24 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin v Assistant Examiner-Conrad Berman Att0rney-Wayland D. Keith [57] ABSTRACT A modular fence unit which is self contained and, together with a brace unit and a simple pin or stake, will make a temporary or permanent pen or corral, which can be constructed of any configuration with any portion being usable as a gate or opening. The present device is preferably of tubular construction for lightness in weight and has one or more vertical braces within the length of each modular unit, which, together with 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures MODULAR, UNITARY SECTIONAL, PORTABLE FENCE FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to knock-down, sectional fence units from which to form corrals 'orpens for stock, such as cattle, horses,sheep-and.,the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ART The applicant is aware that attemptshave been made heretofore to provide portable corrals for stock, but these, forthe most part, .werein manypieces and required thatthe pieces'be .puttogetherone:partat a time, or, they provided special.fastening meansto.se-

cure the parts together, which required-muchtimefor SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention enables the constructionof corrals or pens, either as a single enclosure or as several associated enclosures which are formed substantially of a plurality of modular fence elements, whichinclude a post and looped elements, one of which loopedelements is to form an easier,'quicker hingeable,..fastener means to enablethe fence to be formedintolinear or into angulated runs, with the fence modular elements being separable at any juncture to'form agate.

An angle brace member is alsoprovided to bracea modular length of fence laterally, in either direction at any desired connecting post.

The fence is preferably made of tubular material, such as light weight steel or aluminum, which tubing may be rectilinear or round in cross section, or a combination of the two types of tubular membersmay be employed.

The present fence unit may be built in modular sections, for instance in twenty foot lengths, or one half or one fourth that length, as is best suited for the corrals or pens to be provided, and sections may be :provided of a length most suitable for openings "to be readily formed within the sides of the corral or .pen. The present modular length fence sections, or any'combination of lengths of modular sections, may bemade of relatively small tubular stock, and when the modular sections need to be transported from one location to another, they can be laid flat on a truck bed or on pallets to occupy a minimum "of space and will be ,of mini mum weight for the length of sections built.

The modular fence sections are sotconst ructed that one section may be put in place and a stake'dro'pped down through the hollow post and driven into the ground by means of an impact bar, thereby to hold the modular fence section in uprightposition, then other modular fence sections may be connected thereto, with the operation being repeated until all sidesare erected, to form a pen or corral, or a series of pens or corrals may be formed according to the need.

If it is desired to form a gate, any one of the modular sections may be used as agate, which gate section may be one-fourth or one-half the length of the regular modular sections.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Another object of ,the invention is to provide a light weight, tubularmetaksectional unit which has all the components of thefence attached thereto, except an anchoring stake.

Still-another object of the invention "is to provide a sectional fence having a single post, which sections are .sattachable to one or more posts, so that the sections may be formed into a single corral or into a multiplicity of corals. I

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a .fence in-whicha brace'member may be incorporated at thejuncture'o'f each post, if desired.

Afinal object of the invention is to provide a corral,

the structural elements of which are low in the cost of manufacture, easy .to transport, easy to install, and

which maybe used as. a temporary or as apermanent corral.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION-OF THE DRAWING With the foregoing objects in mind and others which will become apparent as the description proceeds, reference is to'be had to'th accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts in the several views thereof, "in which:

FIG. -1 is apers'pective view of a stock corral, with parts being'broken away and shortened,-and with eleportion of the post and associated elements broken away'and shortened to bring out the .details of construction, and showingthe connectors thereof attached to another lineal fence section or unit, with the brace member being shown partly in section, with the fence unit portions thereof being broken away, to bring out the details of construction;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2,looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the top, a side and an end of a modular fence section;

-FIG. 5 is a perspective view ofa top, a side and an end of a brace member as used in connection with the erecting of the modular sections-of the fence sections;

and i v b FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view, with parts broken-away,-of the modular fence section, with the brace member being shown. at one connection and with a lateral fence section shown at another connection.

.DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With more detailed reference to the drawing, the numeral l designates generally a modular fence section, which comprises an upright hollow post 2, which post in the present instance, is shown to be rectangular, and

which has an apertured foot or plate 4 secured to the lower end thereof, as by welding.

The post 2 has spaced apart lateral rails 6 extending from a side thereof, which rails are joined to an upright member 8 at the opposite ends thereof, as by welding, as will best be seen in FIG. 4. Intermediate vertical bracing members 10 are provided at spaced longitudinal intervals between the rails 6 and are welded thereto to form a fence section of the desired rigidity. The welding of the various joints is indicated at 12 and goes to form a rigid unitary modular unit 1.

The upright member 8 is of lesser length than the upright post 2, and, in the present instance, is shown to be round. A portion 7 of the post 8 extends below the lower rail 6 and a portion 9 thereof extends above the upper rail 6. The portion 7 is adapted to engage an elongated loop 14, which loop is weldably secured, at indicated at 16, to the lower portion of post 2, the upper surface thereof being in alignment with the bottom surface of the lower most rail 6 and projecting outward in the direction opposite that of the rail 6 so as to rigidly support a modular fence section 1, in a manner similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. A hingeable bail member 18 is journaled in tubular member 20, which member 20 is welded to the upper portion of upright post 2 so as to hinge within the tubular member 20, which is positioned above the uppermost rail 6.

The bail or connector member 18 swings over the upper portion 9 of upright tubular member 8, as will best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 6, so as to join the modular fence sections 1 in end to end relation, when the fence is in a linear run, however, the bail is preferably of sufficient length to emcompass a multiplicity of members, such as three, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6.

The members encompassed by the bail 18 may be only two, if a lineal length of fence is being run, however, it is desirable to insert a brace, designated generally at 22, at spaced intervals, so as to insure the rigidity of the fence and to maintain the'fence in upright position and against lateral movement by stock pushing thereagainst. As mentioned above, the loop 14 is of a length to receive a multiplicity of upright tubular members, such as tubular members 8 of the modular'fence section and/or upright member 24 of brace 22;

The upright member 24 of brace22 is shown to be rectangular and has a plate or foot 26 on the lower end thereof, which foot 26 is of such length that the upturned portion 28 may be passed through the loop 14 in longitudinal alignment, and then moved into a right angle position, as shown in FIG. 6, so that the brace, when secured in place by hingeable loop 18, will brace the fence laterally. A lateral brace-member 30 extends outward and meets with downwardly extending brace member 32, which brace members 30 and 32 are welded as indicated at 34. An apertured tab 36 extends outward from the members 30 and 32 to enable a pin, such as pin 5, to be driven therethrough to secure the brace unit in rigid relation.

The posts or upright members 2 are erected in place, then the pointed pins or stakes 5 are dropped into the post 2 so that the pin 5 will register with aperture 3 in plate 4, whereupon an impact rod or bar may be dropped into the hollow post 2 and the stake 5 driven into the ground to the desired depth, as indicated in FIG. 2, so that the head of the pin 5 will be in bearing relation with the upper surface of plate 4.

What is claimed is:

l. Anelongated,'mo dular fence unit for erecting a corral or the like, which unit comprises;

a. a first upright open-ended tubular member forming a post,

b. elongated, laterally extending members secured to a side of said first upright tubular member at spaced intervals along the length thereof and extending outward therefrom in the same direction,

0. a second upright tubular member forming a post,

1. the opposite ends of said elongated, laterally extending members secured to a side of said second upright tubular member forming a fence unit,

2. a loop connector fixedly secured on said first upright tubular members, said loop connector extending outwardly in the opposite direction from said elongated members; said first upright tubular member having an overall length greater than said second tubular member; said loop connector being located near the bottom end of said first tubular member to receive a further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member,

3. a second loop connector hingeably connected to said first upright tubular members near the upper end thereof to receive the further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member therein to retain said first tubular memher and said further tubular member against relative longitudinal and lateral movement,

d. a base fixedly secured to the lower end of said first upright tubular member,

1. said base having an aperture formed therethrough within the confines of the hollow portion of the ,lower end of said first upright tubular member, said aperture being of a size less than the internal size of said first upright tubular member,

e. a drive stake having a head thereon, said stake being passed longitudinally through said first upright tubular member with the lower portion of the stake extending through the aperture in said base and adapted to extend into the ground, said head engaging said base whereby the first upright tubular member will be secured in'upright position with respect thereto.

2. An elongated, modular fence unit for erecting a corral or the like, as defined in claim 1, including a multiplicity of fence units similar to said first mentioned fence unit, each pair of said loop connectors on said fence units receiving one of said multiplicity of fence units in end to end relationship with said first mentioned fence units to form an enclosure.

3. An elongated, modular fence unit for erecting a corral or the like, as defined in claim 1 wherein said fence unit includes a. a brace unit having a further upright tubular member,

1. a rectangular plate member secured to the lower end of said further upright tubular member of said brace unit and adapted to pass through the lower loop connector,

2. a pair of outwardly and downwardly converging members secured to said further upright tubular member a spaced distance from the respective ends thereof, the distal ends of the outwardly and downwardly converging members being secured together,

3. an apertured plate secured to the distal ends of said outwardly and downwardly converging members,

brace unit being connected with said lower loop connector so that said rectangular plate will prevent upward movement of said further upright tubular member,

bra second drive stake, having a head larger than the said upper hingeable loop connector being moveable into position over the upper end of said further upright tubular member of said brace unit and engaging the upper-most of said outwardly and downwardly converging members, 1

d. said lower-most of said downwardly and outwardly converging members engaging said lower loop connector to prevent downward movement of the upright tubular member of the brace unit when said brace unit is positioned perpendicular to said first mentioned fence unit.

4. An elongated, modular fence unit for errecting a corral or the like, as defined in claim 1 wherein the securements of said laterally extending members to said first and second upright tubular members are located adjacent the opposite ends of said first and second tubular members so that said loop connectors can engage the laterally extending members when the further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member is received by said loop connectors and thus prevent downward movement of said further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member. 

1. An elongated, modular fence unit for erecting a corral or the like, which unit comprises; a. a first upright open-ended tubular member forming a post, b. elongated, laterally extending members secured to a side of said first upright tubular member at spaced intervals along the length thereof and extending outward therefrom in the same direction, c. a second upright tubular member forming a post,
 1. the opposite ends of said elongated, laterally extending members secured to a side of said second upright tubular member forming a fence unit,
 2. a loop connector fixedly secured on said first upright tubular members, said loop connector extending outwardly in the oppOsite direction from said elongated members; said first upright tubular member having an overall length greater than said second tubular member; said loop connector being located near the bottom end of said first tubular member to receive a further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member,
 3. a second loop connector hingeably connected to said first upright tubular members near the upper end thereof to receive the further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member therein to retain said first tubular member and said further tubular member against relative longitudinal and lateral movement, d. a base fixedly secured to the lower end of said first upright tubular member,
 1. said base having an aperture formed therethrough within the confines of the hollow portion of the lower end of said first upright tubular member, said aperture being of a size less than the internal size of said first upright tubular member, e. a drive stake having a head thereon, said stake being passed longitudinally through said first upright tubular member with the lower portion of the stake extending through the aperture in said base and adapted to extend into the ground, said head engaging said base whereby the first upright tubular member will be secured in upright position with respect thereto.
 2. a loop connector fixedly secured on said first upright tubular members, said loop connector extending outwardly in the oppOsite direction from said elongated members; said first upright tubular member having an overall length greater than said second tubular member; said loop connector being located near the bottom end of said first tubular member to receive a further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member,
 2. An elongated, modular fence unit for erecting a corral or the like, as defined in claim 1, including a multiplicity of fence units similar to said first mentioned fence unit, each pair of said loop connectors on said fence units receiving one of said multiplicity of fence units in end to end relationship with said first mentioned fence units to form an enclosure.
 2. a pair of outwardly and downwardly converging members secured to said further upright tubular member a spaced distance from the respective ends thereof, the distal ends of the outwardly and downwardly converging members being secured together,
 3. an apertured plate secured to the distal ends of said outwardly and downwardly converging members,
 3. An elongated, modular fence unit for erecting a corral or the like, as defined in claim 1 wherein said fence unit includes a. a brace unit having a further upright tubular member,
 3. a second loop connector hingeably connected to said first upright tubular members near the upper end thereof to receive the further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member therein to retain said first tubular member and said further tubular member against relative longitudinal and lateral movement, d. a base fixedly secured to the lower end of said first upright tubular member,
 4. said further upright tubular member of said brace unit being connected with said lower loop connector so that said rectangular plate will prevent upward movement of said further upright tubular member, b. a second drive stake, having a head larger than the aperture in said apertured plate member on said converging member, adapted to secure the outer ends of said outwardly and downwardly converging members to the ground to brace and prevent lateral movement of said modular fence unit, c. said upper hingeable loop connector being moveable into position over the upper end of said further upright tubular member of said brace unit and engaging the upper-most of said outwardly and downwardly converging members, d. said lower-most of said downwardly and outwardly converging members engaging said lower loop connector to prevent downward movement of the upright tubular member of the brace unit when said brace unit is positioned perpendicular to said first mentioned fence unit.
 4. An elongated, modular fence unit for errecting a corral or the like, as defined in claim 1 wherein the securements of said laterally extending members to said first and second upright tubular members are located adjacent the opposite ends of said first and second tubular members so that said loop connectors can engage the laterally extending members when the further upright tubular member similar to said second upright tubular member is received by said loop connectors and thus prevent downward movement of said further upright tubular mEmber similar to said second upright tubular member. 